Members: Dub sherwood on the Banjo. Andy Sherwood on the mandolin and vocals. Dan peachey on the guitar and Dan West on the double bass.
Crazy Colchester Dudes…
Hogranch
The Hogranch play a range of Bluegrass and Americana with self penned numbers forming a significant part of what they are about. They have been together for about six years and have performed at most of the UK’s Bluegrass festivals in their time. The band recently visited the USA together where they got to play in the Rockygrass band competition. They are currently recording their 1st CD containing all original material written by the band.
Keith Howard – Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting – Originally hailing from a Country Rock Background with Bristol Band ‘The Hanks’ Keith caught the Bluegrass bug after attending The Didmarton Bluegrass Festival meeting Sean and Bob at various jams, ‘…I guess when you run into someone with an identical record collection you either marry them or start a band with them, I’ve done both…’
Sean Hogan – Banjo, Vocals, Guitar – Sean ‘Hog’ Hogan has played with a myriad of talents around the southwest playing a hard driving banjo to rival the best. He lends his extensive repertoire to the Hogranch to call on contributing to the eclectic mix of songs that make the band unique.
Bob ‘chilli’ Pepper – Mandolin, Vocals, Songwriting – Bob trills and spills his mandolin throughout the bands song list and writes the occasional tune too, adding the high tenor to the harmonies which are the bands trade mark.
Deb Howard – Double Bass, Vocals – Every ship needs an engine room and Deb keeps the band on course with metronomic precision and haunting bowing as well as the 4th harmony.
The Bow-Legged Skeeter
The Bow-Legged Skeeter are a 5 piece band playing hard driving Bluegrass and American Old-Time music with an emphasis on strong vocal harmonies. Our influences span American Old-Time and Original & Modern Bluegrass and stretch typically from the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs to Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Mountain Heart, Blue Highway and the Steeldrivers, with a bit of Gospel thrown in for good measure.
Contact Peter Minkey on 01425 489376 or Email peter.minkey@yahoo.co.uk for all Band enquiries.
The band was formed in 2010 and the current line up is:-
Mick Franks: Five string Banjo. Mick is a left handed Banjo player who has recently joined us. He is a very experienced musician who plays a Gibson Mastertone Banjo.
Lindsey Cole: Double Bass and Vocals Lindsey is Charlie’s sister and has been singing and. playing the Bass for four years. She is also a professional Artist.
Richard Filleul: Guitar and Vocals Richard is an experienced Bluegrass Guitarist and Singer who has also played with the Bluegrass band ‘Steamboat’.
Pete Minkey: Mandolin and Vocals Pete is an experienced gigging musician who has played and recorded in other genres including Rock, Celtic and Jazz.
Tim Hextall: Fiddle. Tim is an experienced Old-Time Fiddler who is now adding Bluegrass to his Bow. A very welcome addition who gives us the extra dimension of the Old-Time tradition.
Biggin Hillbillies
Whilst the Biggin Hillbillies mainstream is bluegrass music, their varied repertoire of acoustic music includes country and folk numbers, 50’s and 60’s pop, Irish favourites and jazz standards. As well as bluegrass standards from Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers & Bill Munroe they also include numbers from the likes of The Country Gentlemen, Banjo Dan Lindner and Don Reno, plus of course the ever requested ‘Duelling Banjos’ and ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’ featuring Bobs’ unmistakeable bluegrass banjo style.
Their Country and Western music list draws on the hits of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Jimmie Rodgers, Don Williams as well as lesser known items from the likes of Buck Owens and The Red Clay Ramblers. Irish music favourites such as ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, ‘Muirsheen Durkin’ and ‘The Masons Apron’ form cornerstones of their repertoire. They also include a few jazz standards like ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’, ‘Sweet Sue’ and ‘Bye Bye Blues’ in the list, often inspired by Bob’s in depth knowledge of old time favourites going back to his days of tuition from a ‘Black & White Minstrels’ banjo artist. Of course no gig would be complete without some vintage rock and pop numbers from Buddy Holly, The Beatles and other 50’s/60’s stars.
The boys have recently added two original numbers to their repertoire, Billys Night Out (note this has been downsampled to allow quicker download) and ‘On This and Every Day’ penned by Bob and John respectively. Bob’s number is included on the band’s first CD which can be reviewed by clicking the above link. The band is available for gigs throughout the South East and have performed at concerts, pub gigs, club events, private parties, barn dances, weddings, barbecues and outdoor fetes. They are very flexible and take a pride in making each gig a success.
Here’s a little clip from You Tube of the band picking: